One person was arrested and the two students are recovering at the hospital after the hallway brawl at the Queens Village high school. NBC New York’s Pei-Sze Cheng reports.
Two students were stabbed during the middle of the day at a Queens high school, according to police, and a gun was recovered at the scene.
Video shared with NBC New York shows a brawl break out at the school on Hillside Avenue in Queens Village between periods around 1:30 p.m. Martin Van Buren High School is located at the scene, but there are multiple schools inside the sprawling complex.
The fight erupted between periods at the school, when the hallways are the most crowded. One student told News 4 there were multiple people screaming amid the chaos and violence. Video showed a group of around five students beating up one.
It was not immediately clear what led up to the brawl. The school was put on lockdown as police were investigating. The school does not usually use metal detectors at its entrances, and have only been used at times like Halloween, when there are heightened safety concerns.
A Department of Education official said the school was placed on a brief soft lockdown and were later dismissed.
"The safety and wellbeing of our students is our absolute top priority. NYPD immediately responded to an incident at the school," the official said. "We will be providing additional emotional supports to any student who needs it."
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Police arrested one person, a 17-year-old student, but did not release any other information regarding the suspect.
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One of the students was stabbed in the stomach, while the other was knifed in the shoulder and walked himself to the ambulance for medical attention before being transported. Both injured students were taken to Long Island Jewish Medical Center, where both are expected to recover.
Police said a gun was recovered at the scene, but could not confirm whether it was a real firearm or an air-powered gun.
